Location: Great Harbor Peter, BVI
After a long night of rain and mosquitoes in my hammock, I am awoken at the crack of dawn. 7 am, it is our swim test. We had to swim 200 yards, then tread water for 10 minutes. Some of us struggled a bit, but everyone was supportive, and we all made it through. Finished up, we proceeded to eat breakfast and round up for a briefing session about the upcoming trip. Our captain, Kevin, briefed us on all the important aspects of our program and what to expect. This took us through the rest of the morning. He did keep it interesting by enticing us to keep the boat clean by letting us know the Ocean Star is his pretty girlfriend. Once back on the ship, we learned how to un-tie the ship and depart from the port. We had two people at each rope…and me behind the wheel. Eighty-eight feet under my palms, I pulled away and out to sea. The salty winds made the cumbersome morning worth the while. Though sitting behind the wheel hurt my bum, it was easily ignored.
We sailed for a bit out to GHP and tied up the ship to a mooring. There was an issue with one of our flags, and we had to hoist someone up to fix it. From there, we had a group of un-certified divers start their certification courses. As they did that, the rest of us relaxed, and some of us worked out! (TRX baby!!!) After a long day, hot and sweaty, we got to take our first ocean shower! This consisted of jumping in the ocean, getting out, soaping up, jumping in the ocean again, and then finally rinsing off with fresh water. Besides the feeling of clean ecstasy, we had a blast jumping in and swimming. When we got done, we were shown how to hook up the anchor to get it ready to drop tomorrow. This was interesting and a bit daunting. By the time we got it done, dinner was about ready. We got the tables and benches set up and served dinner. Fabulous, our chefs did well. After dinner, we participated in a Seamester tradition that really brought everyone closerquite the experience. We got dinner cleaned up, put everything away, and went our separate ways to get ready for the night. Today was a good day. Throughout the day, we had different people doing different jobs. As a skipper, I can say everyone went above and beyond with their duties, making my first experience as a skipper just perfect. Day two, but day one sailing, I am excited and ready for the other 48. Sail on, Ocean Star!